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Final month? After 11 weeks of testimony, Philly building collapse trial resumes

Testimony is set to resume Tuesday in what could be the final month of the 11-week-old civil trial of lawsuits in the deadly 2013 building collapse that destroyed a Salvation Army thrift store in Center City.

Testimony is set to resume Tuesday in what could be the final month of the 11-week-old civil trial of lawsuits in the deadly 2013 building collapse that destroyed a Salvation Army thrift store in Center City.

Sometime Tuesday morning, the parties - lawyers for the six killed and 13 injured; the Salvation Army; Richard Basciano, the owner of the building that collapsed; and more - will gather in City Hall's Courtroom 653 before a Common Pleas Court jury and Judge M. Teresa Sarmina.

Tuesday's session should see continuation of defense testimony for the Salvation Army, which lost its thrift store at 22nd and Market Streets and had two store employees killed and five injured.

The lawsuits contend that charity officers bear responsibility for what happened because they ignored weeks of warnings about a potential collapse from a Basciano aide and did not tell store workers or customers of the imminent danger from the four-story building next door.

What is not known is what - if anything - has happened since Dec. 14, when the trial recessed for the holidays, which might affect how the rest of the trial proceeds.

The judge has imposed a strict gag order on the lawyers and the principals, which means the courtroom and the official court docket are the only ways to learn what is happening.

Will the composition of the jury change? When the trial recessed, the jury was comprised of seven men, five women and four alternates. It is remarkable that for a trial that began Sept. 19, only one alternate juror has dropped out.

Still, juror illness forced cancellation of three days of testimony before the break, and lawyers and the judge have said they worry about the personal toll of the protracted trial on the panel.

Sarmina has told lawyers and jurors that the trial will continue until its "expected conclusion" on Feb. 3. Nevertheless, this is the second such order that Sarmina has signed since the trial began on Sept. 19, and lawyers for other defendants have witnesses to present once the Salvation Army's defense ends.

When all the defendants have finished their cases, the jury will begin deliberating to decide which, if any, should be held responsible for the collapse.

If one or more defendants are held liable, the jury would begin hearing evidence to determine how much money would be awarded the plaintiffs.

The trial consolidates lawsuits on behalf of the six people who died and 13 who were injured when an unbraced three- to four-story brick wall remaining from a building being demolished toppled and crushed the thrift store. One of the injured died 23 days later.

The lawsuits maintain that all the defendants should be found liable for their purported roles in the collapse.

Other than the Salvation Army, the major defendant is Basciano, a 91-year-old New York real estate speculator and his STB Investments Corp., which owned the vacant four-story Hoagie City building being razed.

The lawsuits contend that Basciano and his top aide, Thomas Simmonds, went for the cheapest demolition possible and did no research before hiring Center City architect Plato A. Marinakos Jr. as their on-site agent to monitor demolition.

Basciano broke down in tears in two appearances on the witness stand. He said he grieves for those killed and injured but insisted he bears no liability for the collapse. Basciano maintained that he was misled by Simmonds and Marinakos, and blamed the Salvation Army for not giving his demolition workers access to the thrift store roof to safely knock down the wall.

Also being sued is Marinakos, who recommended novice North Philadelphia demolition contractor Griffin C. Campbell for the job, as well as Campbell and Sean Benschop, an excavator operator Campbell hired who was picking at a section of the Hoagie City building with the excavator bucket when the collapse occurred.

In testimony, Marinakos has blamed Campbell for the disaster and Campbell has said he was following Marinakos' instructions on razing the Hoagie City building.

The jury heard from 24 witnesses before the plaintiffs' lawyers rested their case Nov. 18. The defense for Basciano and STB began its case the same day and finished Dec. 9 after nine witnesses. Basciano, who witnesses said was on the scene with his wife, Lois, when the wall fell, did not return to the witness stand to testify in his defense.

jslobodzian@phillynews.com

215-854-2985@joeslobo

www.philly.com/crimeandpunishment